Leadership Without Easy Answers Part 1 SummaryBy: JamillAh MorRis

Someone is determined to be a leader based on their influence over others whether it's because of their values, charisma, or courage. All leaders gain their power by having a strong support system.

It is insisted that the word "leadership" is value-free because we tend to put people in power based on how beneficial they can be for society, not because of their values. For example, Donald Trump has been elected to be #45 because there are people who believe that he will "Make America Great Again," but do not consider the type of person he is overall (misogynistic, racist, disrespectful, a bigot, etc). From this perspective, leadership can be views as a type of social control. Society places control into a person or a group of people and in turn said leader(s) solves the community's problems and defend them.

From another perspective, we view leaders based on the positions they hold such as being a teacher, boss, police officer, general, or even being the line leader in 1st grade.

A person may be a good leader in one area/situation, but be a bad leader in a different situation!

Lead or Mislead

Everything needs a balance! As people, we take time to go through trial and error to discover what works best for us as individuals and as a community. We have the ability to manage our learning and reflect upon our past to make better decisions for our future. With that being said, clarifying aspirations, facing problems, and developing a set of socially adaptive responses is not easy.

What we learn is what helps us adapt to change. Adaptation can be looked at biologically and culturally. Biologically speaking, we adapt to change in order to survive. Culturally, we take on traditional and new values so that we can evolve and stay in touch with reality. Sometimes a social system needs to experience disequilibrium to achieve adaptive change.

Everyone is not born a leader! Someone can become a leader through lessons and experiences.

Roots of Authority

Social living depends on authority. We need someone in control in order to function as a society. Without a leader, then the community is doomed to either be conquered by a more dominant group or destroy itself with chaos. Leaders are seen as authoritive figures that can mediate the social differences within society. It is a primative instinct to want to be in control or to want someone in control.